Training Log Archive: iansmith

Event: Sycamore Scramble
 

Sycamore Scramble Middle distance race.

Twenty minute warmup before the Middle Distance race, and twenty minute cool down with Ken from the finish back to the event headquarters. Time and distance are a guess.

Warmup before the sprint.

Sycamore Scramble Sprint; a disastrous race.

Long Sprint - Splits

Blue Middle - Splits

Model event for the Sycamore Scramble; I made an error at control 3 that cost about two minutes relative to Brendan. I was pushing as if to simulate race conditions, but I was moving a bit slower than I would have.

I felt good throughout the run, and noted both the abundance of linear features and the relative absence of point features like boulders and cliffs, making location along linear features challenging.

I ran on the 1:15k model map to try to calibrate, and I noted that my sense of distance was very inaccurate. The 1:15 map was also harder to read than the 1:10.

Warmup before the model event with Brendan.

Picking up controls from the model event; Lori and I each picked up four controls.

I'm reluctant to consider this training, since I was just biking around on some errands. I have slept very poorly for the past two days, and the Olympics and the Ski-O champs have only worsened my state. This does not bode well for the NC A-meet.

C • True 1

I woke very early to set streamers for the Cat Rock Park training. Conditions were clear and cold, with a temperature of -4 C; the forest was blanketed in 10-15 cm of snow. I originally planned to set reflective streamer, but I only had about 2m; to be consistent, I used my plentiful yellow CAUTION tape despite its inferior reflective qualities. Because of the snow, I ran to the controls significantly out of order so my footprints wouldn't denote an optimal route. This was largely superfluous, since the first runners would lay tracks.

The forest was surreal at night, with a stillness I have only observed in winter. Snow clung to vegetation, impeding visibility, and the wintry landscape was starkly beautiful. The sun rose while I was setting, and the transformation from night to day was similarly spectacular.

I ended up revising several of my control locations because the vegetation was impassable in some cases, and finding the controls at night would require fortunate circumstances rather than skillful effort.

I did not get much sleep, but I was very glad to finally get some time on a map, even if I was setting and revising.

C • you are an animal 2

To and from quintet rehearsal. I vastly underestimated the magnitude of some of the hills in Lexington.

While I was feeling stiff from the US Ski-O Champs, I reasoned that an easy run might improve my recovery. Pain alone was also an insufficient reason to break with my training. Once I started moving, I felt better. I ran in tights, long sleeve polypro, short sleeve polypro, and gloves. I felt overdressed; the temperature was 3 C.

NC A-meet in five days!

Red long course. I was moving at my top cross country speed, i.e. very slowly, though the experience was pleasant. My technique also had improved significantly over Saturday's event. The advantage of moving slowly is that you get to log more hours of training.

Red Long Distance - Splits